Various devices and systems are known for providing supplemental feed to wild game, such as deer, turkeys, etc. Such feeding can be used, for example, to assist the health and well-being of the animals, and also as part of an efficient hunting strategy. Generally, such devices involved the use of a hopper, or other reservoir, which gravity-feeds the food, such as grain, to a spreader mechanism. For example, many such systems incorporate rotating spreaders that throw the feed generally around the circumference of the hopper of the feeder device.
Basic feeder devices incorporate a hopper full of feed, and a spreader mechanism located on the bottom of the hopper that operates on a timer to throw a certain amount of feed out of the hopper at periodic times. The feed then hits a ground surface, and animals eat it from the ground. Other systems, do not incorporate a spreader, but may simply direct the feed to a trough or other opening to be accessed directly by the animal from the device. In such a case, the animal generally puts its mouth to the trough and feeds, rather than picking up feed that has been spread on the ground. Such devices generally direct additional feed to the trough by gravity only once an animal has removed a certain amount of feed from the trough, or opening, so that feed from the hopper does not spill onto the ground.
While many such devices are adequate in providing a general periodic feeding to various animals, there is still need to improve upon their operation and usage, such as to address the different feeding patterns and habits of animals throughout the fall and winter seasons, such as a hunting season. Furthermore, there is still a need for improvements to such systems to better assist a user, such as a hunter, in their quest to efficiently harvest game animals. Still further, there is a need to improve the placement features and overall use features of such devices to accommodate various different locations and installation scenarios from the feeder device. Accordingly, the present invention addresses the need in the art to improve upon current feeder devices and systems.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this Specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with a general description of the invention given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.